I strongly believe that this deal should be rejected
by the United States Department of Commerce (DoC) and the Internet Corporation for
Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

This deal, essentially, allows Verisign to
perpetuate ownership of the .COM TLD, wherein now it has no such claim. Under the
existing agreements, upon expiration Verisign would have no greater claim to renew
its .COM TLD contract than other bidders. With this agreement it (according
to todays Wall Street Journal) will have a "special presumption" to renew its contract.
For all practical purposes this means it will be able to perpetually renew its contract
for the .COM TLD.

And what is Verisign giving up for this new benefit? The
registry operation of the .ORG and .NET TLDs. The .COM TLD will in all likelihood
remain far larger, and far more lucrative, that the .ORG and .NET TLDs combined.

In
short, it is not a fair agreement for the Internet community, ICANN, and/or the U.S
Government.